Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
Study shows strong link between green spaces and less prescription drug use
According to new research, visits to parks, community gardens, and other urban green spaces may reduce city inhabitants' use of medicines for anxiety, sleeplessness, melancholy, high blood pressure, and asthma. Researchers in Finland discovered that visiting natural settings three to four times Read More...
Magnets rapidly remove dangerous "forever chemicals" from water
Australia-based scientists have devised an exciting new method for eliminating dangerous "forever chemicals" from water. When a solution is added to contaminated water, it covers the contaminants and renders them magnetic, allowing them to be easily attracted and isolated. Per- and Read More...
New solar panels harness the full light spectrum to improve crop yields
Crops and clean energy are increasingly sharing the same land as the globe struggles to deal with the climate problem and transitions to renewables and agrivoltaics — the cultivation of crops beneath the shade of solar panels. Scientists are now investigating how to harness the sun's light Read More...
US reveals the “Blueprint”: a plan to entirely decarbonize transportation
The United States Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency have produced a much-needed Blueprint for decarbonizing the entire US transportation system. It is hoped that the policy will reduce all greenhouse gas emissions from the Read More...
Secrets of the sea: hidden underwater forests may help fight climate crisis
The Nature Conservancy's marine biologist Frank Hurd spends his days amongst gigantic kelp curtains, studying underwater forests. One of his usual diving haunts is a kelp forest off Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands national park's protected rocky volcanic islets off southern Read More...
UN report shows ozone layer may be fully restored within four decades
A United Nations assessment indicates that the ozone layer may recover within a few decades with the help of human intervention. According to the BBC, the analysis reveals that the 1987 multinational agreement to prohibit the use of dangerous chemicals that deplete the ozone layer was a Read More...
Tobacco companies in Spain now fit the bill for cigarette butt clean-up
Tobacco businesses will be obliged to pay for the cleanup of millions of cigarette ends discarded by smokers each year under new environmental legislation in Spain. The decision, which went into effect last week, is part of a package of waste-reduction and recycling efforts. It calls for the Read More...
2022's most optimistic climate stories
These days, it’s easy to sink into feelings of climate anxiety and eco-grief. However, this past year brought us a number of good climate stories that encourage us not to lose hope! Renewables are expected to produce more energy than coal in the United States. Hydropower, wind, and solar Read More...
California county sees greatest number of monarch butterflies in 20 years
Over this holiday season, there’s a glimmer of optimism in San Luis Obispo County. It takes the shape of a famous orange-and-black striped butterfly that lives in towering eucalyptus and Monterey cypress trees all along the coast. According to preliminary statistics shared by local volunteer Read More...
France's ban on single-use restaurant tableware is a fast-food “revolution”
Fast-food restaurants in France are now tackling one of the most significant shifts in the industry, ever: a government ban on disposable plates, cups, and tableware for anybody eating or drinking on-site. On January 1, McDonald's, Burger King, Starbucks, and Subway faced what Read More...